Ethereal Escape
by Got Tea
Summary: Even at the zoo, Kati can't forget about her buggies.


CSI Forever Online Challenge. 1500 words, Murder in a Zoo.

Prompts: A giraffe, an okapi, a penguin, an iceberg and a shed with an open door

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It was a stroke of luck really, that Grissom and Sara managed to orchestrate the week long family vacation in Florida; it took two events coincidentally happening simultaneously to generate the ability for them to both get away from the lab. An annual entomology conference featuring Gil as one of the speakers, and the Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships, in which a very excited Kaia was competing.

In the three weeks preceding, Grissom had sent Sara out solo on the most challenging cases he could find, allowing her to surpass the maximum allotted monthly overtime by several hours and, in a fierce break room argument, earn herself a week off in order to try and balance the payroll books. Kaia had departed for Florida with her coach earlier in the week, which left him to entertain three year old Kati and the fifteen year old twins during the flight in order for Sara to catch up on some much needed sleep. A perfectly orchestrated plan.

Now, four days and a gold medal on the uneven bars later, the family found themselves at the zoo. Normally Sara wasn't a supporter of zoos, but this one kept the animals in vast enclosures similar to their natural habitats, had state of the art medical facilities, and one of the best breeding programs in the world, with great success at reintroducing species into the wild.

At that particular moment though, she was grinning like an idiot and trying to stem the urge to vomit as she watched Sydney standing on a platform, hand outstretched, offering a treat to a giraffe. The impossibly tall creature gracefully lowered his neck and lipped the treat from Syd's hand, in the process winding its extraordinarily long tongue around her entire forearm and tickling the inside of her elbow. Sydney giggled helplessly, and held out another treat, awestruck at the vast animal and the large liquid eyes that considered her carefully as it munched. She stared back, marveling as the giraffe's lip dragged over her palm in a sort of salivary kiss, as if he was thanking her. The sticky drool coating her skin was forgotten in her wonder.

Grissom, seeing his wife's expression, snickered and took the camera, snapping shots of the moment. It wasn't until Syd had washed her hands and arms and they moved away from the exhibit that Sara gave him a tiny shove for laughing at her and took the camera back. He grinned at her and leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Wow," gasped Sophie suddenly. "What is that?" 'That' had a brown body, zebra legs and massive ears.

"Anya the Okapi," said Kaia. "Closest relative is the giraffe, she can clean her eyelids and ears, both inside and out, with her tongue, and her feet have scent glands in them. Her ancestors were documented by the ancient Egyptians."

"She is so cool," declared Sophie. "We should have one as a pet."

"They weigh up to 770 pounds and eat between 18 and 29 kilos a day Sophie," said Kaia flatly.

"I was joking," Sophie rolled her eyes. "But I am totally going to get a poster or a stuffed animal. She is seriously the coolest animal I have ever seen."

"Nope, the giraffe wins, hands down." Sydney was adamant.

"As if," Sophie wasn't deterred.

"Joey ate out of my hand and kissed my fingers, she's just staring at you," Sydney wasn't giving in. Almost as if to prove her point, Anya stamped one hoof and turned her back on Sophie, dropping an enormous pile of dung and then walking away. Sydney and Kaia dissolved into giggles at Sophie's expression. The older twin recovered quickly.

"Whatever," she said breezily. "The Okapi has attitude, and that counts for way more."

…

Sara watched the flamingos dip their beaks in and out of the water, standing resolutely on one leg, and was strongly reminded of Kaia as a little girl.

"Dey tink," scowled Kati, turning up her nose as Grissom held her on his hip so she'd be able to see above the fence.

"They're amazing," corrected Kaia. She turned to Sophie, "That's the kind of animal you should have a poster of." Sophie snorted and pinched her nose, breathing through her mouth.

"They look just like you on the beam Kaia," teased Syd as she leant forward over the fence, lining up the perfect photo. Sara grabbed a fistful of Sydney's shirt, ready to haul her back if she started to slip; superior balance was not a quality the twins possessed. Laughing, Kaia struck a pose imitating the flamingos, tucking one leg at the knee. Lifting one arm, she bent at the waist and made a scooping motion, pretending to gather a beakful of food.

"Mmmm algae," she grinned, ruffling imaginary wings. Grissom struggled to hold Kati still as he laughed; Sara shook her head in amusement and consulted the park map.

"Where to next?" she asked.

"Penwins," shrieked Kati, clapping her hands excitedly.

…

They emerged from the penguin house after a long stay, each fascinated by the speed, agility and charming personalities of the unusual birds. They were blinking in the bright sunlight as their eyes slowly adjusted when Kati squealed with joy and bolted across the walkway. On a large plastic iceberg perched a zoo worker in a very realistic costume; within seconds Kati was scaling the ice and climbing into the penguin's lap, fingers prodding its beak in curiosity.

"Daddy, penwin," she screeched as they drew near. "A big one! S'all fuzzy."

"I see that Kat, did you ask the penguin if you could climb up on his lap?"

"No, he's jus sittin here," she replied. "He's soft." As she spoke, Kati ran a hand over a flipper. She gasped when the penguin lifted the flipper and patted the top of her head.

"He wikes me," she shrilled, eyes huge with wonder. The penguin tilted its head to one side, staring at her and then gently wrapped a flipper around her in a hug. For a moment she trembled with joy, then she threw her arms around his neck and looked up at Grissom.

"We keep him daddy, pwease?"

…

They were making their way out of the park when a bee flew past.

"Buggie," cried Kati, reaching for the bee. Before they could stop her the inevitable happened and Kati was gone, chasing it.

"Dad," sighed Kaia with exasperation as they ran after her. "I thought it was your turn to keep hold of her."

"It is," he cringed as they rounded the corner, searching.

"I told you we should have put her in the stroller," muttered Sara, looking around. "But no, you promised she wouldn't go running off after bugs." There was a loud bellow followed by a high pitched screech and they all spun around. A large shed stood to the side of the driveway, its door wide open. Kneeling at the threshold, Kati was examining something closely on the ground; behind her a very tall young zookeeper was dancing up and down, clutching his wrist.

Abruptly Kati leapt to her feet and smacked the man on the leg.

"You deaded it," she wailed. "You deaded the buggie." She stood in the doorway, deliberately trapping the man inside.

Sara stopped a few feet away and looked pointedly at Gil.

"Bugs are your department," she said flatly, taking a step backwards and giving him a sly smile.

"Kati, come here," he ordered calmly, stepping closer to his three year old and crouching down to her level.

"Daddy, he made the buggie fwat and now it won't fwy away. He deaded the bee," she cried, outraged.

"It stung me," protested the zookeeper, still clutching his wrist.

"So what," exploded Kati. "Dey do. Dey bees. And you deaded it!"

"Kati, remember we talked about how not everyone likes bugs as much as you and I?" he asked, imploringly. She nodded and pointed at Kaia.

"Yeah, Kaia don like buggies. But Kaia's weerd daddy. She hangs sidedown, and jumps and stuff. She don like buggies, but she pretens to be buggies."

"Uh, right," agreed Grissom hesitantly. Kaia made a disbelieving sound behind him and he grimaced as he heard Sara struggling to suppress her laughter. "Well, maybe this young man doesn't like bugs much."

"Or at all," came a mutter from inside the shed.

"Den you should no be buggin da bee," yelled Kati, still furious. "Den it would no ting you."

"I didn't touch it," complained the young man, taking a step backward. He planted his boot squarely on a plastic bag and slipped, arms wind milling as he toppled backwards. He landed in a large open box of stuffed animals waiting to be moved to the gift shop; the force of his weight displaced the toys and caused a cascade of them to fly out of the box.

Kati gasped and jumped with glee as a mass of black and white fur rained down around her.

"Penwins," she shrilled gleefully.

...

...

That little girl is such a guilty pleasure...


End file.
